


It takes a village to raise a child

by caraxyz



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daycare, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-09-27 06:58:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9981980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caraxyz/pseuds/caraxyz
Summary: It takes a big heart to shape a little mind - that's what they say at least. And at Overwatch Daycare, everyone learns that there's much more to childcare than everyone seems to think.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> im rlly bad at titles/summaries?? pls let me know of some better titles/summaries thanks

“Welcome to Overwatch Day Care, how may I help you?”

“Hi, I was wondering how much an hour it was for a single child in your daycare?”

“Well, that depends on the age of the child and how long you’d lik-, oh, one second please.”

“Oh, of course.”

“Jamison, sweetie, Mercy’s talking on the phone. Yes, you can use the explosives in the kitchen to blow up Mako. Make sure you put them back when you’re done.”

“…”

“As I was saying, it depends on how long…”

Beep beep beep.

“Aaand they’re gone.”

Angela Ziegler let out a small sigh, carefully placing the phone back on the wall, running a hand through her snowy blonde hair. Things had been going on like that for a while now. It wasn't like she meant it literally. They were  _children_. There was no way in the world she was going to let a five-year-old child blow up another kid. Why did people have to be so difficu-

"Who was on the phone?"

The older woman was snapped out of her thoughts as she looked over at the voice, eyebrow raising. It took her a moment to put a face to the voice, before recognizing it as the one and only Jack Morrison.

"Oh, just another possible mother..." She sighed softly, sitting down at her desk, grabbing a golden pen from behind her ear, "And before you ask, it wasn't Hana, it was Jamison."

Jack groaned, taking a step towards the door, "You know what this means, right? I'm gonna have to-"

"You're gonna have to put Dynasty to naptime, I know, you and Gabriel have this bet every week." As annoyed as she was, she couldn't help but let a small smirk slide onto her lips.

"He bites, Angela!" Jack announced, his own grin beginning to form as he grabbed his phone out of his pocket, "Can you send me a message when Ana gets here?"

Angela nodded softly, leaning over to grab ahold of the staff attendance sheet as Jack made his way out of the room. Quickly checking the time, she let out another soft sigh. 8am. Monday morning. Luckily for her, not all the usual children had checked in yet. There were still a few minutes of freedom before things turned crazy.

 Getting up from her chair, she slowly began making her way around the daycare facility, keeping an eye on how many children were there. Jamison and Mako were usually the first children checked in, each of their parents dropping them off as they made their way to work. It would probably be an understatement to say that they were inseparable.

Not much was known about their family. Jamison was Australian, obviously. There were periods of time in which he would be missing for weeks on end, only to return with souvenirs and an even thicker accent from his country of origin. His closest friend, Mako, was apparently of New Zealand descent, however. He certainly wasn't one for talking, which most of the staff members were thankful for, but he certainly got up to the same amount of trouble as his buddy. It was rare for a day to go by without hearing at least two children scream either 'Mako!' or 'Jamie!'

Looking over at the plastic castle in the corner of the room, Angela was able to notice Dynasty acting as the ruler of his own kingdom, confidently looking over his land – something he did quite often. ‘Dynasty’ was the nickname given to a young boy by the name of Genji. His elite and noble family had almost seemed fake, dropping their child off at a 10-dollar-an-hour daycare every morning. Gabriel had made a bet with Jack that he was the heir to a royal Japanese family, and would soon become the Prince of Japan. It wasn’t true, of course, but the nickname given to the boy had simply stuck – and he certainly didn’t mind it. He was playful and carefree – probably one of the most energetic kids in the entire facility.

However, the older woman did notice that the same young man dropped Genji off every morning – even going so far as to constantly pay for his fees. Angela wasn’t sure if he was his caregiver, or if his parents were simply too busy in the morning. She was certainly able to sense a little family troubles there – but it wasn’t her place to pry. All in due time.

Continuing to make her way around the daycare, she noticed Gabriel, allowing her to check him off of her list. One of the main supervisors, Gabriel Reyes had been with them since they first opened the place - but that was a few years ago now. Children had never been his strong point, Angela would state that quickly, but he certainly did have a soft spot for a few of the kids that had become a strong part of the community.

Angela couldn't help but smile lightly, beginning to walk away, before hearing a voice over near him. Raising an eyebrow, she quickly turned, looking over with a rather confused expression.

"Alright, I found the rope, not so sure about the cones, though." Jesse McCree spoke, dumping a pile of rope in front of Gabriel. Rookie mistake.

"And why are you giving it to me?" The older man asked in his usual harsh tone, his arms slowly crossing.

Jesse raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms as well, trying to seem the least bit intimated by his superior, "You _asked_ me to get the rope, so I  _got_ it for you."

Not really one for drama, Angela quickly made her way over, swiftly ticking Jesse McCree off of the staff list as she did so. Okay, well, he wasn't technically a staff member. He was lucky enough to be given a volunteer position after he graduated, meaning he was certainly younger than most of the other workers here - only fresh out of school. Angela wasn't particularly sure why he chose daycare, he certainly didn't look the part. But, similar to Gabriel, he had a soft spot for the kids, which was why it made it all the more fun when she made Gabriel Jesse's boss.

"Have either of you seen Mei?" Angela asked, walking up to the two men, placing a foot down on the rope. Both of them dropped their mantra quickly, Gabriel shaking his head.

“Probably in the kitchens with ‘Zarya,” Jesse replied, gulping a little. Angela smiled at the two men, holding the clipboard up to her chest, thanking them, and walking away.

She was able to hear the banging and clanging of pots from miles away.

“I tell you, Mei, you use three eggs for the scrambling, not two!” A voice boomed, the thick Russian accent pounding through the walls. Zarya, their cook, had only been with them for a few years, having left her country of origin a few years back. Whilst she certainly was a good cook, a lot of her ideas were heavily focused on…. protein. And four pounds of meat wasn’t really the ideal lunch snack for a kid in a daycare.

“B-But, Zarya...” Mei began, her own Chinese accent complimenting well with the larger woman’s, “T-There only kids! We can’t feed them too much!”

Mei, on the other hand, had joined the community only a few months ago. Whilst Zarya had been able to keep up with the demand for healthy food and drink for a few years, the growing number of children gradually began to make the task more challenging. And that was where the smaller girl came in. From what Angela could tell, she’d worked with children before – the way she spoke and acted around the children made it easy to pick up. And she wasn’t that bad of a cook. The decision was pretty unanimous in the end.

“Ah, it is okay!” The Russian woman exclaimed, grabbing ahold of a nearby spatula, holding it into the air, “We shall make the best eggs, no matter the number!” The act caused Mei to freeze for a moment, looking up at the older woman anxiously, before letting out a gentle giggle.

The smile on Angela’s face only widened, ticking both Zarya and Mei off of her list. Five down, five to g-

“MEEEEEEERRRRCCCCYYY!”

Oh, god.

The older woman quickly turned, a look of concern on her face as she struggled to find the source of the distressed noise. Quickly exiting the kitchen, she held the clipboard close to her chest, fingers tapping worriedly as she made her way into the main room.

“What’s wrong?” She quickly began, before noticing the lack of children within the space. Her eyes quickly scanned the area, before spotting the young Shimada boy in the corner of the room, still happily playing with his castles. The two made eye contact, Angela’s soft eyes giving him a look of concern before the boy pointed in the direction of the girl’s bathroom. She gave the boy a smile, thanking him, causing him to let out a little giggle. She couldn’t help giggling herself, before quickly making her way into the bathroom. Some of the children weren’t toilet trained yet, so any trouble that happened in the bathroom was usually just more work for Torbjorn.

“And what is going on in here?” Angela swiftly asked, making her way inside, giving a stern look to the two young girls sitting on the bathroom floor. One was in tears, one had her arms crossed, and there was a plush toy stuffed down one of the potties. Gotta love Monday mornings.

“M-Mercy!” Lena Oxton whimpered, quickly getting up from the tiles and running over the woman, wrapping her arms around her legs and holding on for dear life. It’d be an understatement to say that the young British girl tended to overreact, and this seemed to be like one of those situations. Coming from what seemed to be an extremely close, tight-knit family, Angela couldn’t really blame her. Being only about 5 or 6, emotions came quickly and went just as fast – something that all the staff had to get used to. Jack used to say it was because she came from a family of mostly women. He stopped after he received a rather displeased lecture from Ana.

“What’s happened?” Angela quickly responded, her spare hand coming down to gently run through the younger girl’s hair, comforting her as best as she could.

The other child – Amélie – stood a few feet away, her arms crossed. It appeared as if she was attempting to be unfazed by the fact that she was about to get into trouble, but Angela was able to tell that there were tears beginning to creep into her eyes. Amélie was another mysterious child, not much known from her family background. She was of French descent, as many had pointed out, but from what Angela could tell, her family wasn’t exactly picture perfect. Either her mother or father would drop her off each day, but never together. Again, it was only small things – and it certainly wasn’t in Angela’s place to pry. She’d leave Ana to do that.

“A-Amy...” Lena began, tears still streaming down her face as she sniffled uncontrollably, “T-Threw Zenny down the t-toilet!”

“Amélie? Is this true?”

“…”

Angela gave the young girl underneath her a small hug, before pulling away, making her way over to the toilet. It was a little closer to the ground, causing Angela to bend down, before yanking a small, robotic plush toy out of the bowl – one that Tracer had developed quite a close bond with – even going so far as to name it ‘Zenny.’

“Amélie. This is not a nice thing to do. Say sorry to Lena,” Angela spoke, turning to look down at the girl, a stern tone to her lips. Amélie looked over at Lena for a moment or two, before quickly turning away and shaking her head. Angela couldn’t help but sigh, before handing Lena back the plush toy.

“Here, Lena, go find Mr. Dad and ask him nicely to dry Zenny, okay?” Angela explained, squatting down in front of the much smaller girl. Despite her eyes being extremely red and puffy, with snot dripping down her nose, Lena nodded eagerly, a wide smile appearing on her cheeks.

“O-Okay Mercy!” She quickly exclaimed, before sprinting out of the room, calling out “Mr. Dad! Mr. Dad!” as she did so.

“Now,” Angela began, turning back to Amélie, kneeling down in front of her. Looking at her face, she took both of the younger girl’s hands into her own, giving her a safe yet stern look, “Why did you throw Zenny into the toilet? He’s just a nice robot, he doesn’t want to be thrown into the toilet.”

“I-I..” Amélie began, sniffling a little as she looked down at Mercy, “L-Lena kept poking me... A-And she wouldn’t s-stop! S-So I took her t-toy and threw it.”

Angela let out a soft sigh, before giving Amélie a patient smile, “But that’s not nice. What do we do if someone is hurting us?”

“W-We tell s-somebody..”

“So, why didn’t you?”

“I-I don’t know..” The younger girl looked down, sniffling once again before hugging the older woman, “I-I’m sorry!”

Angela was a little taken back, but eventually let out a gentle laugh, wrapping her arms around the girl as she reciprocated the hug, “It’s okay, Amélie, but you have to promise never to do it again, okay?”

Amélie nodded quickly, pulling away as she wiped her nose,“But don’t say sorry to me. Go find Lena and say sorry – so you too can be friends again!”

The tears were once again replaced with a happy smile, Amélie nodding eagerly as she ran out of the bathroom, her long ponytail swaying rapidly as she ran. Angela let out a gentle sigh, looking down at her tear and snot covered beige coat. She couldn’t help but smile – even though there were some gross parts to the job, she loved every second of it – and she certainly wouldn’t have it any other way.

However, she was quickly snapped out of her thoughts as she felt the buzzing of her back pocket, eyebrow raising. Her hand reached around to pull her phone out, before looking down at the phone, noticing that none other than Ana Amari was calling her.

“Hello?” She began, holding the phone up to her ear as she made her way out of the bathroom.

“I’m having a little trouble at the front office.”

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapters a little short; exams caught up with me but i wanted to get at least something out. enjoy!

“Hello?” She began, holding the phone up to her ear as she made her way out of the bathroom.

“I’m having a little trouble at the front office.” 

As soon as Angela heard those words, she tensed up. Trouble? Ana? In the same sentence? Hearing something like that was enough to send a shiver up her spine, causing her to pick up her speed a little, holding onto her clipboard with dear life. Biting down on her lip, her black heels clacked against the tiles of the cafeteria as she made her way swiftly across. She was on a mission, and nobody was going to stop her. 

“Oh, Angela!”

Nevermind.

Taking a deep breath, Angela quickly turned, her heels making a loud clack sound on the tiles as she did so. Expecting a person of similar height, she was a little taken back as she saw a gigantic man towering over her, standing at at least seven foot whilst she stood at a measly five foot eight. The immediate height difference caused her to stumble slightly, taking a few steps back whilst the massive man simply let out a low laugh. His gigantic hand leant forward, resting comfortably on the smaller woman’s shoulder as she regained her composure, laughing along slightly. 

“Sorry about that, Reinhardt,” She apologized, a small smile on her lips, “It’s been a pretty crazy morning so far.”

“Ah, it’s okay!” The much larger man replied, his own grin complimenting well with his soft eyes. Reinhardt was another one of the oldies, having been with the group since they first founded. He’d been a close friend of everyone, and his gigantic size made him perfect for the kids to jump all over. His strong and muscular exterior was certainly covering a much softer and warm interior.

“Torbjorn and I were just wondering where you’d like the Christmas tree set up!”

Angela was about to respond, a pleasant look on her face, before she instantly froze. Christmas? Tree? Her eyes grew wide as she scrambled through her clipboard, snatching her pen from behind her ear. Oh god, it was already December 1st. This was almost the opposite of what she needed right now.

“O-Oh!” She responded, sliding the pen back behind her ear as she gulped worryingly. Looking over Reinhardt’s shoulder, she was able to get a quick peek of the back of the building. And luckily enough, there was Torbjorn, standing at four foot two as he carried a nine foot Christmas Tree with ease. He was similar to Reinhardt, having joined the group way back when they originally began. He was a bit iffier with the kids, not really a children person. But he was a good repairman, and that’s all they needed. (Plus, he built pretty much all of the playgrounds in this place.)

“I’ll have to…” Angela paused, her eyes fixed on the tiny man as he began to wobble at the overwhelming weight of the tree. It was a little difficult for the young woman not to laugh, the sight was rather amusing when ignoring other issues that were going on, but as the struggling man’s eyes met with her own, her mind was brought immediately back to the point, “I’ll get back to you on that!”  
And in an instant, she had began walking once again, heels clacking hurriedly along the ground as her blonde ponytail swayed behind her. The slight detour had made her completely forget about the problems happening at the front office, those of which needed her most attention. Not the location of the Christmas Tree. 

“Ah, okay Angela!” Reinhardt called out as his superior hurriedly walked out. He paused for a moment, watching her leave, before turning to face his partner in crime as he struggled to keep the Christmas Tree on his shoulders.

“Think I could get a hand?”

The last words of Reinhardt and Torbjorn had faded away as Angela began on her mission once again, knowing that Ana had probably already begun to question her absence - even a few second detour was enough to stress her out. 

Ana and Angela had become close friends during high school, being in the same class for pretty much everything, and luckily enough, that close bond was enough to merge into the real world. They were both extremely interested in science, even from a young age, and pursued similar degrees at the same university – Ana much more focused on biological agents, whilst Angela tended to focus on more medical research. And whilst their degrees only lasted for a few years, both pursuing individual careers, they found it just wasn’t really what they wanted. And of course, one thing lead to another, and they had just bought a regular house together in a suburbia area. With the help of close friends, such as Reinhardt, Jack, and the rest, they were able to turn it into a small daycare. 

The pleasant memory caused a smile to creep onto Angela’s face as she began to slow down, holding her clipboard against her chest as she let out a soft laugh. They’d come so far since then, both Ana and Angela being immature and optimistic 20 year olds when they first bought this place. But now it was a fully-fledged business, and Angela was proud of the work they were able to do. 

The memory lingered in her mind as she made her way into the front office, before the sound of a screeching child completely knocked her out of her thoughts. Her head immediately shot up at the sound, watching a mother stand at the front desk, leaning over as she attempted to have a conversation with Ana about the details of their child. And, luckily enough, there the child was. Her arms tightly wrapped around her mother’s leg, screeching as she gripped with dear life. It was a sight that Angela had seen too many times before. 

“Yes-yes, and wh-what did you say her,” Ana had to pause for a moment, allowing the young girl to let out a relatively loud screech, “name was again?” Angela quickly looked over, noticing Ana’s furrowed brow as she attempted to make out the child’s name. For a second, a quick wash of desperation swept over the Amari eyes, and Angela took that as her cue.

As the older woman attempted to pronounce the young girl’s name (there appeared to be a slight language barrier that was not complimenting well with the screaming of the child), Angela kneeled down besides the young girl, a soft smile on her face as she attempted to appear as comfortable as possible. The young girl’s curiosity was heightened as she ceased her screaming for a moment, her eyes puffy and red as she sniffled, looking at the older woman with curiosity. 

“Hello,” Angela spoke, making sure to speak softly and slowly as to not startle the already quite sensitive girl, “My name’s Angela, it’s nice to meet you!”

The young girl simply stared at the blonde, her arm still gripping tightly onto her mother’s leg with no chance of letting go. Angela continued to give her a patient smile, before noticing a picture of a bunny of the pink shirt she was wearing. She decided to use this to her advantage.

“Oh, that bunny is very cute,” Angela told her, scooting a little forward, “Do you like bunnies?”

The little girl continued to stare for a moment, before nodding slightly. Thank god, she was finally beginning to warm up to h-. And she’s screeching again. Angela had just broken the ice, but as the younger girl’s mother began to make her way out of the building, the glass shattering screech was back once again. She quickly stood back up, placing her clipboard on the front desk as the mother picked up her child, attempting to speak to her in a calm manner as the tantrum began to calm down once again. 

“Hana Song,” Ana spoke quietly, taking the clipboard from the desk and placing it in one of the drawers, “Her family just moved from South Korea a few months ago, so I’m not really sure on how good her English is.”

Angela nodded slightly, before the mother placed the young girl back on the ground, signaling for her to move forward. Her bright blue eyes found the older woman’s once again, before carefully taking a few steps forward. Angela gave her mother a quick smile, before watching as she quickly escaped, glad that her daughter was finally somewhat content. Somewhat.

“Hello again,” Angela spoke, kneeling back down as a wide smile formed on her lips, “What’s your name?”

The young girl, apparently named Hana, didn’t speak for a moment, simply staring with curiosity and childish fear. However, after a moment or two, the girl eventually spoke, “Hana.”

“Hana?” Angela responded, gasping slightly, “Oh my, what a beautiful name! You’re very pretty.”

Hana couldn’t help but let out a small giggle, swaying slightly in her feet as she took a step towards the older woman, slowly becoming more comfortable in her presence. It was no doubt that Angela had a very motherly personality, and her soft facial features only complimented the look. Kids just liked her.

Don’t tell that to Ana, of course. 

Angela was about to begin speaking once again, planning on taking the young girl into the main playroom to meet fellow children her age, before she was rather rudely interrupted by the slamming of the back door to the office. 

“I’ve gotten the boxes you ordered!” A voice called out, followed by rather worrying sounds of stumbling and rustling. Various objects were falling from shelves and toys on the floor were being stepped on; crunching and smashing sounds echoed through the room before a tall woman burst through the office door. Angela simply let out a soft sigh, laughing slightly as she looked up at Ana, who had her palm on her forehead as she let out a groan.

“Fareeha, be quiet,” Ana shot at the younger Amari woman, who had toppled into the front office carrying three large boxes, each one stacked on top of the other. They were barely standing up, and it was a miracle that Fareeha was able to place each one in the back of the office carefully. Angela didn’t hear any worrying smashing sounds inside, so everything should be good. She hoped.

“Sorry, mother,” Fareeha murmured, making sure each box was standing upright before she pulled away, walking over to the front desk. A gentle pink blush colored her dark cheeks, simply causing Angela to let out another soft giggle. Fareeha, or Pharah as some of the other staff members liked to call her, was the daughter of Ana and close friend of many. She was only a child when they had first begun to work on the property, and by the time she was old enough, it was only natural that she was offered a part-time position. She was relatively… good at her job. Her enthusiasm and eagerness was certainly there, wanting to help out where ever she could and make the daycare one of the best in the area, but she still had a lot of training to do. But she was in good hands. At least, Angela hoped she was.

“Fareeha,” Angela began, opting to use her real name rather than her nick name, “Would you mind taking Hana to the front room?” The little girl giggled, becoming more comfortable in the environment as she gave Pharah a little wave. Pharah looked at Angela, then down at the child, before nodding, an enthusiastic smile forming onto her lips.

“Of course, Miss. Ziegler!” She responded eagerly, taking a few steps over. The blue jacket wrapped lazily around her waist dangled as she walked, before she leant down, taking the small child’s hand as she did so, “Come on, let’s go meet the other kids.”

And with that, they were gone, strutting out of the office as if they had been best friends for years. Luckily enough, Angela could hear Hana’s giggles as the two made their way to the main room; the lack of screeching and screaming made both Angela and Ana let out a soft sigh of relief.

“Thanks for that,” Ana spoke, rubbing her forehead as Angela made her way over to the front desk, leaning against it slightly, “She’d been screaming for hours, and her mother had no idea what I saying,”

Angela simply giggled, a happy smile on her face, “Oh, it’s no problem, I’m pretty sure I’ve lost at least one ear drum over these years.”

The women laughed, getting ready to head back to their regular work, before a familiar face made its way into the front office.


End file.
